Tawa Exchange

On Tuesday the 29th of November we went to Tawa Intermediate School for the Tawa-Newlands exchange. Lots of kids went. Kids went for Ki O Rahi, Touch, Volleyball, Netball, Basketball, Table Tennis, Badminton, Chess, Indoor Bowls, Dance, Art, and E-sports.

We arrived at school by 8.10am. We took a quick roll and got straight on the bus. The bus ride took about 25 minutes. We were all talking and some playing music. We were already having a great time. The anticipation to arrive was creeping through every hole.

We finally arrived at Tawa Intermediate. We got off the bus and climbed the stairs up to the school. We could just see the kids practicing for the Whakatau. “Kapahaka at the front, girls then boys, then the rest behind girls then boys” We heard Whaea yell out. We quickly hurried to our spots. We waited for a couple minutes then we heard the Karanga. We walked towards them and when they finished their Haka Powhiri we sat down across from them. A few kids from the Intermediate did a quick talk. They then sang. Mr. McAtamney spoke. We then sang.

One of the teachers from Tawa Intermediate addressed us and told us how the day would run. We then got led to the library where we were based for the rest of the day. Ki O Rahi, Basketball, Netball, Dance, ESports, and Art were up first. I went for Ki O Rahi and Volleyball so my Ki O Rahi game was first. We did a warmup to get used to everything as it was slightly different. The ball was so hard it felt like concrete. While we were warming up the boy's basketball and the Yr8 netball were warming up as well. When the time came the game started. We started as Taniwha so we were defending first. We had to try and rip their tags off and then once we got the ball try and hit the Tupu.

We ended up losing 19-9. The netball won and the basketball lost. During this time Dance and Art were both going as well but hadn’t finished yet. Dance was a workshop and art was a competition. Not between schools but to find a winner. Art went to the end of the day. The next round of games were boy's volleyball, Yr7 netball, and basketball girls. The boy's volleyball team won. The Yr7 netball lost, and the basketball girls lost by 2 in extra time. In between games we supported our school and watched the games that were going on.

Next up were touch, girls volleyball, and indoor bowls. I was on the girl's volleyball team so I went and warmed up. We played two games and won both games. We all had a lot of fun. I ended up being able to watch the end of the touch game. They ended up losing 8-6. I am pretty sure we won bowls but I can’t remember. Table Tennis and Chess were up next. We won table tennis and chess. I think we won.

My friends and I were all chilling out when the teachers came in and said they needed 24 students to partake in run the gauntlet. It was a really fun game with a mix of relay and dodgeball. We had to get cones from one side to the other while dodging dodgeballs.